LeBron James has been a part of and a face of the NBA for over 20 years now. He has played at an elite level and won 4 titles throughout this length of time. However, the journey to the top was quite difficult and had its challenges. That said, NBA fans might certainly want to know how King James fared in his first-ever NBA game.
As we all know, the NBA draft lottery system allows the bottom-seeded teams to have a better chance at drafting the top NBA prospect for that year. The Cleveland Cavaliers were considered to be LeBron James’s home team since he is from Akron, Ohio. As a result, he was quite excited to be selected by his hometown team. Let us take a look at how his first NBA game went down and the context that surrounded it.
How old was LeBron James when he made his NBA debut?
Many NBA critics and analysts agree that the pressure LeBron faced and the weight on his shoulders surpassed all his predecessors and other NBA greats. After all, Sports Illustrated had already called him “The Chosen One” amongst other nicknames, and heralded him as a future NBA legend. Moreover, this was when he was still in high school and before he ever played in a professional NBA game.
“I wish that moment on no other athlete ever because it was very nerve-racking.” 😂 LeBron James reflects on the 18th anniversary of his NBA debut with the Cavs. pic.twitter.com/e1t8hkX9z6
— Spectrum SportsNet (@SpectrumSN) October 30, 2021
After finally being drafted by the Cavs, LeBron was heading into his first-ever NBA game at 19 years of age. This game happened to be against the Sacramento Kings. NBA fans will remember that this team had players like Bobby Jackson, Vlade Divac, Doug Christie, and others. The team was quite experienced when compared to the young Cleveland Cavaliers and finished that season with a record of 55-27, giving them the second seed in the Pacific division.
It was this time that LeBron James had to go against in his first-ever NBA game. Moreover, the Kings also had homecourt advantage for this match and were the clear-cut favorites to win. Nonetheless, King James did not disappoint and scored 25 points, 9 assists, 6 rebounds and even 4 steals to keep his team in the game.
Unfortunately for Cavs fans, this did not translate into a win as the Kings ended up blowing out the Cavs, The final score of this game was 106-92. While it is certainly humiliating to be blown out in one first-ever NBA game, there is no denying that LeBron proved himself to be a sensational talent in his first-ever official NBA game. He has continued to prove the same for two decades now.